Taycan to Takeover?29 October 2018

Are Porsche ready to dominate the electric market? The new Taycan would suggest they are going to give it a good go. As the new four-door saloon goes into its second phase of prototype production, it leads the line for a programme of electric powered vehicles with a budget of over £5 billion.

What do we know about the Taycan so far? In terms of price, when it goes on sale, it will be nicely slotted in between the Cayenne and the Panamera. Therefore, we expect it to be within the region of £56,000-£67-000. There will be two different variants, with the standard saloon set to arrive in Britain in early 2020, and a crossover/estate version planned for 2022. We have also heard that Porsche are preparing for a Targa cabriolet version too, although verified information on this design is hard to come by.

The dimensions will be around 4850mm in length and 1990mm in width, making it a little wider than a Tesla Model S, but shorter than a Panamera. The interior space will allow for two adults in the back thanks to a flat floor and larger footwells.

Amongst all the interesting facts and features of new electric cars, the output and range are the two that get people excited. The Taycan won’t disappoint. The top variants will be equipped with two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors. For those of us that aren’t scientists, this means the car will have a strong, sustained performance at high energy density levels. Having one between each axle gives this car four-wheel-drive capability. We hope this still makes sense. A rear-wheel-drive variant is also in development, which is said to be part of the launch plans, and will be fitted with a two-speed gearbox.

Similar to the Tesla Model S, the Taycan will have a number of different power outputs. Officials suggest that these will be in the form of a 300KW (420bhp), 350KW (469bhp), 400KW (536bhp), and a whopping 450KW, which translates into a rather intimidating 603bhp. The 0-62mph times are impressive, too. In the top of the range four-wheel-drive Taycan, Porsche suggest that it will be targeting around 3 seconds. With a top speed of “well over 124mph”, this puts them in direct rivalry with Tesla. There isn’t much information about the battery capacity yet, but it will be an ultra-slim pack using cells supplied by LG, and Porsche claim the range will be in the region of 311 miles. If this is indeed the case, it will boast 50% more potential range than a Model S.

Porsche and Charging

With Tesla having dominated the electric market for a while, their charging infrastructure is currently second to none. Ionity, a company that Porsche, BMW, VW Group, Mercedes and Ford are partners in, promise up to 400 fast-charging points in Europe by 2019. To us, this doesn’t sound a lot when you consider Europe is a big area. But, 2019 is coming around quickly and with the electric market growing rapidly, it is only realistic to see the number of fast-charging points increase too. How long will a 350kW fast-charge take? A major recharge will take around 30 minutes. 30 minutes is still a long time to sit in the car and wait for a battery to charge, but if you time it well, you can enjoy a nice cup of the finest bean at the service station. Porsche however, claim that 8 out of 10 Taycan charges will take place at home. Therefore the EV will be available with an onboard AC charger rated at 3.6-7.2kW, with an option of up to 22kW.

Will the Taycan take over? It looks like Porsche have got the design spot on, and we don’t think it will be long before Tesla have a lot more competition in the electric car market.

What do you think of the new Taycan? We would love to hear your thoughts.